Arrivals from India into Thailand have reached over 800,000 by the end of August 2016 while from January to October 22, 2016, the kingdom welcomed 26.4 million tourists in total. An income of 1.31 trillion baht ($37.4 billion) was generated, up 11.82 per cent and 15.59 per cent, respectively. Judging by the growth, TAT Mumbai is positive that India will achieve its arrivals target of 1.1 million by the end of the year. “We remain positive. Indians have become tremendously savvy with checking on the on-ground situation in Thailand rather than falling for the odd sensationalist report that might crop up. We look forward to celebrating 1.1 million arrivals by the end of the year,” says Soraya Homchuen, Director, TAT Mumbai. While officially in mourning, the kingdom’s the Department of Fine Arts, under the Ministry of Culture is giving free access to national museums and historical parks to encourage visitors and locals to learn more about the culture and monarchy. This scheme will continue from now until January 31, 2017.

Tourism New Zealand recorded double digit growth in tourism from India, and have seen a total of 23 per cent more holiday arrivals as compared to last year from India, revealed Steven Dixon, Regional Manager-South and South East Asia, Tourism New Zealand. He was speaking at an event organized in New Delhi to welcome John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand by the team of Tourism New Zealand and its brand ambassador in India—Sidharth Malhotra. The event also had in attendance Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of Tourism and Culture (I/C); former Blackcaps captain and cricketer Brendon McCullum; the New Zealand High Commissioner to India, H.E. Grahame Morton; David Craig, General Manager, Asia, Tourism New Zealand and Steven Dixon, Regional Manager, South and South East Asia, Tourism New Zealand. PM Key is also New Zealand’s Minister of Tourism followed by him addressing the media at the event. “India is a priority emerging market for New Zealand and we have witnessed significant year on year growth in visitor arrivals. While this growth is really exciting to see, we think the Indian market has even greater potential. We are investing to maximise the opportunity, which includes growing the Tourism New Zealand team here in India,” said Dixon.

Hotelbeds has announced a strategic partnership with AccorHotels that aims to double sales for the hotel through the bedbank over the next two years. Carlos Muñoz, managing director Hotelbeds – Bedbank, said, “We are very excited and pleased to confirm that we have taken our longstanding relationship with AccorHotels to the next level with this strategic partnership. This summer´s trial resulted in the best ever booking results we´ve seen for the hotel. Based upon this we are already working together on a plan to double the amount of bookings that AccorHotels receives through Hotelbeds within the next two years.” As a result of this new agreement – reached earlier in the year and trialed over the summer months – Hotelbeds has recently registered its best ever bookings results from the hotel chain. Hotelbeds is a long-standing B2B partner of AccorHotels that embraces its dynamic rates through outstanding XML connectivity.

Etihad Airways will launch a fourth daily flight between Abu Dhabi and Kozhikode on 26 March 2017, capitalising on the strong traffic flows between the state of Kerala and the UAE, and beyond. The airline will also double its frequency between Abu Dhabi and Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat, from 1 February 2017 with the launch of a new daily service. Etihad Airways announced the expansion of scheduled services between Abu Dhabi and India as strategic partner Jet Airways unveiled new routes and additional frequencies to further strengthen their partnership. From early 2017, the two airlines will expand their services between the United Arab Emirates and India by adding 28 weekly flights and three further Indian cities. Jet Airways recently announced the launch of daily flights between Tiruchirappalli (Trichy), Tamil Nadu, and Abu Dhabi on 1 February 2017, offering travellers another option from southern India. Jet Airways will also introduce daily services from Kannur, the fourth Kerala gateway to Abu Dhabi. It also plans daily services from the northern Indian city of Chandigarh to Abu Dhabi, which will benefit travellers to and from the state of Punjab. The two routes are due to begin in the second half of 2017, subject to the completion of operational readiness at these airports. From 15 January 2017, Jet Airways will introduce a second daily service between New Delhi and Abu Dhabi. With Etihad Airways already operating three flights a day between the two capital cities, the enhanced operation will give guests a wider choice of departure times. Etihad Airways currently operates 175 weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and 11 Indian cities. Together, Etihad Airways and Jet Airways offer 252 weekly flights …

Kenya-based specialist tour operator for safari holidays Gamewatchers Safaris has opened its Indian arm headquartered in Bengaluru and is headed by Santosh Ojha, Director (Business Development – India), Gamewatchers Safaris India. The company owns the award-winning Porini camps and claims to have excellent knowledge of Kenya and rest of East Africa. It offers exquisite wildlife experiences through beautiful and natural camps under the reputed brand name Porini. Gamewatchers Safari has been operating in East Africa for the past 25 years and has been collaborating with the Masai landowners over the years by providing them with benefits in order to use their land for wildlife conservation. Ojha says, “The purpose is to cater to the demands of the discerning Indian travellers who seek unique experiences. This will encourage the Indian wildlife enthusiast to look beyond the usual, to Porini Camps where they can experience a host of unique features such as off-road driving do get closer to wildlife, night game drives, excellent guides among other advantages.”

Seychelles Tourism Board recently organised ‘Appreciation Evenings’ in New Delhi and Mumbai for its key travel trade, airline and hotel partners to thank them for their support. The tourism board also gave away appreciation awards to those travel agents and tour operators who have significantly contributed to the increase in awareness and tourist arrivals to Seychelles from India. Awardees in New Delhi included Destination Travel Services, Makemytrip, TUI and Travstarz. In Mumbai, Holidays Box, Vacations Exotica – Balmer Lawrie, Ottila and Air Seychelles were honoured. Hallmark Elite and Escape Holidays from Ahmedabad were also awarded. Patsy Moustache, Acting Charge de Affairs, Seychelles High Commission congratulated the tourism board team and the travel trade partners for their support.  This was followed by a destination update. Sherin Francis, CEO, Seychelles Tourism Board, was not present at the events but she sent out a message that said, “When we started the India office in 2013, there were just around 2,000 Indians visiting Seychelles. Last year we touched 8,000. This number may seem small in comparison to the several thousands of tourists visiting other destination. But keeping in mind the exclusivity of the destination, our limited marketing budgets and most importantly the short period of time, we are proud of this achievement. The numbers this year so far show similar trend as last year and we are positive that we will cross our target of 2016. Though Seychelles remains the ultimate romantic destination we have seen several families, small MICE groups and adventure sports enthusiasts choosing the islands for their holiday.”

In their latest set of interactions with GST commissionerate, FAITH has made a very specific request for 6 per cent. GST rating, at the lowest slab for the tourism & hospitality industry. The services sector is being considered for 18% and 12%, but considering that a lot of tourism sub-sectors in India are on abated rates currently & that worldwide tourism industry average indirect rates are between 6-9% Faith believes it is important to communicate the requirement for the lowest slab 6% for the industry. Additionally, FAITH has sounded the GST commissioner on the issue wrt presumptive rates & there is a likelihood that that will be considered positively. They have also sounded on export service status under section 2(44)c & have been informed that the place of provision of supply of service may being relooked at in the second draft of GST law. Over the past 4 months Faith has been running a persistent campaign with all policy makers at central & state governments to position Indian tourism on the lowest GST rate which will double the PAN India employment & GDP output resulting from tourism.

General Hotel Management (GHM) has joined hands with Rajesh LifeSpaces, Mumbai-based real estate company, to bring The Chedi brand to the hospitality market in India. Hans R. Jenni, Director and President, GHM, expressed his optimism for the project, “We have always wanted to plant a GHM flag in India and being able to establish The Chedi brand in the thriving city of Mumbai is an honour as well as a challenging opportunity my team and I are eager to face.” The Chedi Mumbai is situated in close proximity to the Powai region, an area where infrastructure developments, connectivity and social groundwork have laid the foundation for the growth of a diverse expatriate community. It is also an increasingly favoured residential precinct among the locals and the burgeoning district is becoming an enclave for the who’s who in society. The strategic location of this iconic hotel is also not far from Bandra Kurla Complex: this ambitious development is set to be an emerging hub for work and leisure outside of South Mumbai and will house a new convention and exhibition centre, an art auditorium, cultural plaza, residences and offices. These, coupled with the fact that The Chedi Mumbai is close to both the domestic and international airports, and is supported by a comprehensive network of highways and roads, assure travellers of the ease of commuting and roadway connectivity between the northern and southern parts of the city. When viewed from these various perspectives, The Chedi Mumbai is truly a testament to the owner’s vision for it to become a destination in and of itself, the epicentre of this metropolitan city.

Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) has restricted boating service (Jalaraja boat with 126 seats) in Periyar River from October 21, 2016, onwards till further orders due to low water level in the river. Bookings in KTDC boats will be cancelled and refunded or adjusted with future bookings. As per the information received from Kerala Forest Department, small boats (2 boats with 25 seats each) operated by the department will continue their boating services in the river.

As part of its makeover plan, the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) has announced that it will be organising at least two symposiums next year. Pradip Lulla, Vice President, TAFI, said, “We will have symposiums starting next year over and above our annual convention. One of our main objectives is to get on a digital platform where we can integrate our members. The Managing Committee is working on the details of the digital platform. We have already identified the platform but basic implementation needs to be firmed up. It will be confirmed by early next year. The symposium will discuss on how to improvise our existing Joint Bank Guarantee program. The convention details will be divulged by March 2017.” He added that TAFI is also looking at new ways of educating its members on how to do business better.